Academy graduates prosper

The performances of Robert Key and Andrew Strauss provide further evidence of the vital role Rod Marsh is playing in Englands revival, writes Simon Wilde

THE EMERGENCE this summer of Robert Key and Andrew Strauss will boost the reputation of the national academy and its director Rod Marsh, who only a few weeks ago saw Chris Read, one of his favourite former charges, dropped in favour of Geraint Jones. Earlier this year, Marsh’s academy side endured a crash-and-burn tour of India, where they lost all but one match.

The success of both batsmen is a timely fillip for a system that should have been introduced 10 years earlier than it was, in 2001, and which struggled to justify itself until recent months.

Australia’s modern supremacy owes at least something to the lessons many of their top players learnt at their own academy in Adelaide, which Marsh ran for many years. Now England’s most promising young players are being taught a valuable work ethic that they almost certainly would not acquire from county cricket alone. Spending